


Carrie

by nevillesIongbottom



Series: the Carrie Chronicles. ー ❪ Stranger Things ❫ [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, False Identity, False Memories, Family Bonding, Good Sibling Nancy Wheeler, Hawkins National Laboratory, Martin Brenner Being an Asshole, Period Typical Attitudes, Protective Jim "Chief" Hopper, Protective Joyce Byers, Sara Hopper Lives, Stephen King's Carrie References, Team as Family, Telekinesis, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevillesIongbottom/pseuds/nevillesIongbottom
Summary: Carrie White was tired of a lot of things, she was tired of being named after the titular character from that stupid Stephen King book, she was tired of being bullied for it, she was tired of Steve Harrington's pining thoughts about her, but most of all she was tired of being a science experiment. A number '011' branded on her wrist long before she can remember had claimed her as Dr. Brenner's property, even though she was no longer stuck in Hawkins lab, she'd be naïve to think she was free, they had big plans for her. She had plans of her own, she planned to escape, both the Lab and Hawkins, Indiana once she graduated from high school in the upcoming summer. But then the other '011' escape Brenner's clutches, her best friend's younger brother goes missing, and she becomes Chief Hopper's sidekick in an attempt to save Will Byers from another dimension.
Relationships: Diane/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Jim "Chief" Hopper/Original Female Character(s), Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper/Karen Wheeler, Steve Harrington/Original Female Character(s)
Series: the Carrie Chronicles. ー ❪ Stranger Things ❫ [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010355
Kudos: 5





	1. Not In Hawkins Anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Carrie Season One Trailer](https://youtu.be/DkPl-CJ7v5k) made by me  
> [Carrie Book Cover](https://aureliasblack.tumblr.com/post/635167628226379778/wattpad-ao3-quotev-carrie-steve) made by me  
> [Carrie Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5hB9ZDtxYaSbHqJdTNcZXg)

**SEASON ONE, EPISODE ONE:**

_NOT IN HAWKINS ANYMORE_

__

* * *

**"MUM," A CHILD WAILS** , there's a sound of something, a splash or a static scream, Carrie is not sure but it wakes her out of a dead sleep. The blonde bolts up right in bed, there's a strange tingle on the back of her neck, something's not quite right but she's in her room, her headphones are hanging off her head at a weird angle and Carrie White cannot pin-point what she thinks is so wrong. She fixes the headphones and she's greeted by static, this causes her to frown, her walkman better not be broken. It's her only possession that's hers, she had spent a pretty penny on it and it is the best thing she owns.

"Please don't be broken," Carrie mumbles as she pushes several buttons, no matter what the static remains and then —

"Jonathan," a scream breaks through the static, it causes Carrie to nearly jump out of her skin.

The voice sounded familiar, it was a young boy and Carrie did know a Jonathan, he was her next door neighbour, her only next door neighbour. He and his family are the only ones she's allowed to visit whenever she pleases, other people, which only includes two other normal families, need to be approved by Margaret first, but there's no way she would be hearing something like this on her Walkman. There's another sound, a strange sound that is hauntingly familiar, Carrie can barely hear it so she pushes the volume up and her blood runs cold.

The sound is lab made, Carrie curses under her breath, why is it reaching her Walkman, her only piece of freedom?

"Mum," comes another wail and Carrie comes to the startling realisation that this is Will Byer's voice. Jonathan Byer's little brother, her heart threatens to break her rib cage as she hunches over her walkman.

"W — w — Will," Carrie whispers hesitantly she clears her throat speaks only a little louder again, "Will?"

"Mum?"

She exhales, he can hear her! He can hear her, what the heck?

"Will, it's me, it's Carrie," She says a little louder, "What is — are you . . . are you okay?"

"No," Will wails and she can hear him breathing heavily, "I don't — something is following me and I — your house was unlocked so I'm in your room but — but I can't see you — where are you Carrie?!"

Carrie looks up, her blue eyes widening as she looks around her dark room, her room is only illuminated by the moon but she cannot see Will anywhere.

"Are you — are you positive your in my room? Are you in my closet?"

"No, I — I'm by your window . . . That thing — it's outside, I think I —"

"Get away from the window, Will, don't let it see you!"

"What is it — do you know?"

"No — I've never seen it but I've heard it before . . . My friend — Eleven, she's seen it, says it's bad."

"Where are you, Carrie?"

Carrie opens her mouth to speak and finds that it's become incredibly dry "I'm in bed, Will, I'm in my bed and I can't see you either — are you positive you're in my room?"

"Yes, it looks exactly like your room only — there's weird stuff everywhere and — and it's so cold!"

It's like Carrie herself has suddenly been dunked into ice water — it's like the bath. She breathes heavily "Oh no, no, Will are you —"

"Carrie are you alright, you don't sound so good?"

She inhales sharply and she lets out a short laugh "You — you're asking me if I'm alright?"

"Yeah?"

"Will . . . I think you're in — I think you're not in Hawkins anymore."

"But — but, it looks like Hawkins?"

"I think you're in another dimension, I don't — I can't tell you how that could be but . . . I think you're in the — she called it the Upside Down."

Will sniffles "How do I get out?"

"I don't know," Carrie whispers, she had never gotten trapped in the Upside Down, she was sure she had probably been to it but that was in a controlled environment and this was not a controlled environment, "I'm sorry Will, I —"

There was something strange on the wall across from her, Carrie wasn't sure if she was seeing things or not but whatever it was, it was darker than the rest wall.

"Will . . . do you see that — in front of my bed there?"

"Yeah," Will says meekly, "It looks like a — I don't know — maybe, uh, maybe it's a portal?"

"Portal," Carrie asks, "What's a portal?"

"It's like, well, it's like a doorway from one place to another, usually different dimensions."

"Think you can crawl through it?"

"No, it's too small, I can fit — it's slimy and cold! I can only get my arm through!"

Carrie peers harder through the darkness, she cannot see if Will's arm is poking through and she wasn't about to risk waking Margaret up. Perhaps, she could open it more with her mind, she has opened normal doors with her mind before, it wasn't a difficult task. She pulls her headphones down to the base of her neck, the volume of her Walkman is so loud she can feel the crackling static vibrating against her clammy skin. Carrie hold her hands out towards the dark mass on her wall and narrows her eyes, thinking about how she wanted the mass to get bigger.

She quickly finds out that it's much harder to do than opening a normal door, in fact it's much harder than anything she's ever had to do before. No matter how hard she pushes her mind to pull it open, it doesn't look like it's getting any bigger. A sharp pain starts to grow at the top of her skull, something warm leaks down her nose. Carrie inhales sharply, she hadn't had a nose bleed in over a year, her stomach churns as the metallic taste fills her mouth.

"Is it getting — is it getting bigger," Carrie gasps out, her vision swims before her, she thinks parts of her room have gotten darker.

"No — I don't think so!" Will replies and surprisingly she can still hear him loud and clear despite not having the headphones on, she feels the static vibrate harsher against her neck with every word Will speaks.

Oh, Carrie realises, she's already using her powers just speaking with Will. She swallows thickly although she quickly regrets it because of the taste of metal, her eyes widen and she thinks she won't be able to help him. Perhaps the other eleven could, she was always better.

"How about now," Carrie asks meekly, her vision although she couldn't make out much in the darkness was starting to swim, her head starting to throb. She had not used this much energy in over a year, even the scientist don't push her this hard in the check-ups but she had but she had to save Will.

"Carrie — I — no —" the static was screaming so violently she couldn't hear most of what Will had said.

She pushes harder and she hears something cracking, perhaps the drywall — good. She's doing it.

"Carrie —" Will exclaims shakily then a static scream cuts him off, "Oh, God! Carrie — it's in your house!"

"What," Carrie gasps out, her voice is hoarse and she'll be surprised if Will can even hear her. But, he had to be wrong about the monster being in her house, she hears nothing, not even that strange clicking noise.

"Carrie — can't get — no," Will is near hysterics, most of his sentence is cut off by the static acting up. Or maybe her telekinetic connection with Will was fading just as her ability to sit up was.

She can't save him, she can't — it hurts. It hurts. It hurts. Her head feels like it's being split open, she's never been this drained before but Will. Little Will Byers, the only person that knew, her best friend's brother, and Joyce's — oh, God this will kill them, she'll lose them if she can't save Will.

"Hide," Carrie rasps out, it feels like her brain had disconnected from her spine and was now floating around in her brain which seemed to be filled with acid.

"What about — what about you, Carrie?!"

"M'fine, just hide in . . ." She trails off, the words feeling like molasses in her dry throat, she inhales sharply when Will calls out her name with intense fright tinging his tone.

"Hide in the . . . the . . ." Carrie trails off again, her eyelids too heavy to keep open but Will. Will. Will. He needs to be saved, he has to at least hide — hid where?

"Closet," Carrie manages to choke out as she succumbs to the burning pain in her brain, the once small black spots have obscured her gaze completely and her hand slumps down, she follows the rest, landing just above her pillow in a position she will deeply regret when she wakes up. The last thing she hears is Will's panicked yelling, asking if she's okay. And then it's silent and dark.

Suddenly, Margaret is knocking aggressively on the door telling Carrie that it's time for school. The blonde bolts out of bed, her head still throbbing and she thinks that's had a terrible nightmare until she reaches up and feels that nose has been completely crusted over with dry blood.

"What the heck," Carrie mumbles, she can faintly hear ABBA blasting from her headphones, no longer were static screams coming from it. what kind of dream was that, there's no way it was completely true. Her stomach sinks at the thought of Will being in danger because of the lab. No, that had to be a nightmare, a nightmare so intense it triggered her powers into working while she slept. She thinks she remembers overhearing a scientist say that powers could work while the subject slept but she personally never experienced anything like that.

She looks to the wall and there's nothing marring it, Carrie breathes heavily, it had to have been a nightmare. But, of course, there was only one way for her to find out: she would have to go to the Byers' home.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is SO far from what I originally planned and from the excerpt I posted on my AO3 awhile back. The plans I had for the first and second chapter have drastically changed since I posted the excerpt but I think it's for the better. I actually really like how this prologue turned out and I'm super excited for how the rest of the story will go! This story will have slow updates as I'm super focused on my Harry Potter fic [Make Them Gold](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26798431/chapters/65376598) at the moment, I have started the second chapter for Carrie but I cannot say when it will be post. But other than the lack of frequent updates, I hope you guys will enjoy reading this story! Please let me know what you thought of it as your thoughts/feedback means a lot to me!


	2. The Terror Of Knowing

**SEASON ONE, EPISODE TWO:**

_THE TERROR OF KNOWING_

__

* * *

**THE BYERS WERE** the Whites' neighbors, technically their own neighbors as there was no other house in the area. The houses weren't close together but Carrie often took the ten minute walk every morning to visit them, it was more like home to Carrie than the one she was living in. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the house Carrie lived in was built solely to keep her trapped in Hawkins after being let out of the Lab and that's why Carrie could never quite bring herself to love it. But, perhaps it was the fact that the Byers had welcomed her into their family hardly a month after she arrived.

Carrie White met Jonathan Byers first, he was, as he called it, accidentally trespassing on her property ( she still doesn't know what trespassing is ) but she had caught him taking pictures of the flower garden just to the left of her window and she went out to greet him. At first she believed he was a subject from the lab and she was excited to meet someone new. He nearly screamed when she said 'hi'. Apparently he didn't realise that their were people living in the house they had only finished building a week prior. He had blushed and admitted to talking pictures of the working crew because he thought the wood beams made neat compositions and then he had told Carrie that he wouldn't come around again. She vaguely remembers telling him she didn't mind but he should ask Margaret first because she wouldn't take too kindly to a random person sneaking around their house, she would think he was working against the lab; She didn't tell him about the lab part.

She let Jonathan take more pictures of the flowers and shyly asked him how to use the camera as she had never used one before, she knew what they were because a lot of scientists would take pictures of her or the other children. He happily obliged, just happy to share his passion with photography with someone, Carrie never got into it but she always let him ramble on for hours about it. It's not like she had much to talk about. At first Margaret was not pleased with her talking to someone but she didn't take long to reconsider Jonathan Byers as a threat and let Carrie hang out with him, Carrie never told Margaret that she had found him near their house but rather told her that Carrie had wandered off into the woods and she ran into Jonathan who had just shown her the way back. Carrie figured that Jonathan shouldn't get in trouble for trespassing ( she's sure Margaret knows what that is ) as he said that he wouldn't do it again and Carrie always had getting into trouble when she had her accidents.

She met Will Byers next, she never hung out with him as much as she did Jonathan as Will had his own friend group but Carrie found herself oddly protective of the boy, in a way he reminded her of the other 011 and that one 003 that possibly got disposed of because of her and she wanted to protect him like she wished she could have protected them. She had snuck into the library for the first time, Margaret had forbidden her to go there and at first Carrie listened until she found out a library was just a big house of books and Carrie loved books. It was the first time Carrie had ever disobeyed Margaret on such a large magnitude. Margaret never caught her but Will did. He was there working on something for school and when he seen her, he recognised her as the girl that starred in most of his brother's photos.

Will asked if she was Jonathan's girlfriend, at the time she didn't know what that meant and she still doesn't exactly understand it but she had said yes. Carrie was a girl and she was Jonathan's friend, he usually referred to her as his best friend though but she assumed that girlfriend was not much different than best friend. Will had be absolutely delighted to hear her say yes, so she assumed further that it was a good thing and left it at that. Carrie remembers telling Will that Margaret cannot know that she was at the library or she would be in big trouble and she remembers him telling her that the secret was safe with him. To this day Jonathan has no idea how the two of them met, Will really never told a soul about the library and he even helped hide her library card which she only got because she panicked and thought it was the only way to get into the library. She trusted Will with her life and it seemed that he felt the same way, he had told her things that he had never told his friends or his mum and she told him about her powers.

Meeting Will Byers is subsequently what lead to Carrie meeting Joyce Byers. Apparently much to Jonathan's chagrin, Will had told Joyce that Carrie was Jonathan's girlfriend and Joyce decided to invite her and Margaret over for dinner one night. At first, Margaret was angry that Carrie had gone off and befriended a whole family but seeing Jonathan had softened her, she seemed to tolerate Jonathan. Thankfully, Carrie never got in trouble and even though Carrie was not Jonathan's girlfriend she was still invited over to dinner, Margaret bailed and said she had work that night. The rest was history.

As Carrie stumbles around her room to get dressed, the memory or, hopefully, nightmare from last night was slowly coming back and she was anxious to make it over to the Byers' as quickly as possible, she needed to see Will, to know that it had just been a nightmare. It just couldn't be real, how had that monster from the lab, from the upside down, made it out and why had it taken Will? Why would the lab want Will, he was a good kid — special even but not special in the way that Carrie was so they had no reason that she could think of.

She throws on a pair of acid wash mom jeans, a white Fleetwood Mac t-shirt she had bought along side her Walkman, and finally her brightly colored wind-breaker that was mostly teal with dark blue, white, and hot pink patches. It was the first item of clothing she had got and she's had it since moving into this house, Carrie wears it almost everyday. She throws on her teal All-Star converse and comes bounding down the hallway.

She stops by Margaret's office door to announce that she's going to the Byers, the older blonde hums her approval and with that Carrie is running out of the house and down the path to the Byers' worn down home. Carrie mentally prays that Will be in that house when she gets there, it had to be a nightmare. It just had to be. She's not sure what she'll do if it's real.

It takes her less than ten minutes, the usual time, to get there, she's out of breath when she slides into the house. The Byers had gotten into a habit of unlocking the front door in the morning for Carrie as she's always over there. Sometimes she joins them for breakfast, if they insist. She doesn't like eating their food, although it's good food but the Byers don't have a lot compared to her and she feels bad taking from them. Carrie's greeted by the smell of bacon when she enters, her mouth waters and her stomach grumbles, she forgot to cook herself dinner last night. Pushing, her spikily cut blonde hair behind her ear, she starts heading into the kitchen only to collide with a frantic Joyce Byers.

"Jonathan! Have you — oof! Oh, Carrie, I didn't hear you come in," Joyce apologises, steading herself by grabbing Carrie's shoulders.

"What are you looking for," Carrie asks, gnawing on her lower lip as she fixes Joyce with a concerned look. _It's Will, and he's missing, and it's all your fault, you didn't save him, it was real, and he's probably dead and_ —

"My keys," Joyce stresses, "I'm going to be late!"

"Have you checked the couch," Carrie sighs, relief floods her and she lets out a light laugh. Joyce often looses her keys, nothing is out of the ordinary so far.

"Yes!"

"Thoroughly," Carrie asks and Joyce grumbles before turning on her heel and going back to check again.

Carrie laughs softly and enters the kitchen, she spots Jonathan at the far end, in front of the stove as he makes scrambled eggs.

"Hi, Care, mum lost her keys again," Jonathan asks, not bothering to turn around.

Carrie laughs again a little louder this time, her wariness fading "Yeah, Joyce should start keeping them on a chain or something."

"Has she checked the couch?"

"Yeah, she's checking it again."

Jonathan snorts "I think you're right, Care, I think we're gonna have to invest in a chain for her keys. She lost them yesterday too."

"And the day before that," Carrie adds, remembering that Will had found them in the fridge of all places. Speaking of Will, she glances around the kitchen only to find that it's Will-free — oh, no.

"Where's Will," Carrie asks uneasily. Her heart on the back of her neck starts to prickle, not in the way that it had last night but she has a real bad feeling in the pit of her empty stomach.

"Oh, he's —"

"Got 'em," Joyce announces as she enters the kitchen, she sweeps over to Jonathan and kisses him on the cheek then turns to look at the spot where Will usually sits, "Where's Will?"

Carrie swallows the lump in her throat, her eyes burn, as she looks at the empty chair — _where is Will? Is he alive? Did that monster get him? Did the lab get him_?

Jonathan tells Joyce that Will is still sleeping and she scolds him, telling him Will should be up by now and they begin bickering. Joyce gives an exasperated sigh as she turns and heads to Will's room — _please, God, please be in there_ — Joyce bursts through Will's door.

"Come on Will, get up, it's —" Her voice falters and Carrie's mouth runs dry, why did she stop mid-sentence — _he's not in there_ — maybe he's already up.

Joyce comes back out looking pale as a ghost and Carrie's vision begins to blur, it was real. That wasn't a nightmare, Will was there and so was that monster, and Carrie couldn't save him. Now he's gone.

"He came home last night," Joyce asks Jonathan who turns to look at his mother with a confused expression.

"Is he not in his room?"

"Did he come home or not?"

Jonathan shrugs his shoulder looking a bit flustered "I don't know."

Joyce looks incredulous "You don't know?"

"No, I don't know, I got home late . . . I was working."

"You were working?"

"Eric asked if I could cover. I said yeah," Jonathan mumbles, "I just thought we could use the extra cash."

"Jonathan," Joyce sighs exasperatedly, "We've talked this."

"I know," Jonathan mumbles again, looking anywhere but Joyce.

Carrie inhales sharply, she wants to defend Jonathan because she knows if he had been there who knew what would have happened, it would probably be a lot worse but that would require her telling them everything and that didn't feel right. The mother and son begin bickering again and then Joyce picks up the phone to call the Wheelers, apparently Will had been there last night. Jonathan thinks that Will might have just slept over but Carrie knows better.

It turns out that Will did not sleep over, Joyce's panic grows and she calls Will's other friend's but he wasn't at any of their places either. By the time she runs out of people to call, Joyce is having a full blown panic attack, Carrie thinks she's not far behind the woman.

Jonathan looks concerned but he manages to keep his cool "Maybe he did go to school early . . . Uh, Will was telling me that the AV Club was getting a new radio maybe he went in early to see it?"

Joyce doesn't look like she believes that "He would have said something."

"Maybe he did but you were half asleep or maybe I just didn't hear him leave, I'm sure he's fine, mum."

Joyce shakes her head "No, no. Something is wrong."

"You should go to the school to check just in case," Jonathan says, "If he's not there then go to the police."

Joyce nods her head distractedly as she paces the kitchen, Carrie looks her over, Jonathan expects her to drive in such a state. She's so panicked she'd probably drive off the road within minutes.

"I'll stay here in case he comes home," Jonathan says.

"Right, right, yeah . . . Okay," Joyce mutters, "Yeah, I'll do that."

"I'll drive," Carrie suggests and both mother and son stop and stare at her.

A frazzled looking Joyce stop mid sentence to look at Carrie with wide dark eyes "But what about school?"

"Jonathan's not going," Carrie answers simply.

"I don't care about missing school though, you've never missed a day," Jonathan cuts in, "You love school, I think you're incapable of not going."

He's right, she never wanted to miss school because missing school means either going to the lab for a check up and if not it means staying home with Margaret. Neither of those were much fun. School was her safe haven. But, she didn't mind missing school if she was with Joyce Byers and she was helping her in some way.

"And besides, someone's got to wait here in case Will comes back."

Carrie knows he's not coming back, the nightmare had been real and she had failed to save Will from the Upside Down. This is all her fault and she had to help somehow — _even if it meant getting caught and sent back to the lab_? She inhales sharply, she just wouldn't get caught.

"I'll drive you to his school and the police station," Carrie insists, "I don't think you're in the right state of mind to go by yourself . . . And if I'm driving you can use that time to look down streets, maybe he's just . . . I don't know, wandering around?"

All three of them, especially Carrie, knew that Will wouldn't just wander around without telling somebody . . . Even then, he wasn't the type to go wandering alone. But they needed something rational, something not dangerous or involving abduction to soothe their nerves.

"I won't come in . . . I can't," Carrie adds she's not allowed to go to the police, Margaret had forbidden it and she wasn't about to disobey that one because they could be working with the lab and if she were to go to them they might throw her back in the lab and she wouldn't go back, "I'll drive you back after you've done what you need to or I can drive you around town to look for Will."

Or you could just tell them the truth . . . No, Jonathan would never believe it unless she proved it, Joyce might but Carrie would feel bad if she was wrong or if she was never able to contact to Will again. Telling them felt like she would hurt them more than not.

"I —" Joyce begins to argue.

"I'm driving," Carrie insists, "I just need to be back by the end of the school day, that's it. I want to help."

"Alright," Jonathan agrees for Joyce, "Mum, we need all the help we can get, it's just one day. Carrie's smart, this won't cause her to fail her classes."

Carrie would argue the smart part but that would do nothing to soothe Joyce's nerves. And Jonathan's right, she's not about to fail, surprising with her limited knowledge, Carrie clearly was not school smart but at the very least she was street smart, and she knows where Will really is.

Joyce nods after a moment of hesitation "Okay, let's go."

* * *

* * *

**STEVE HARRINGTON BLINKS** in surprise as he enters Mr. Mundy's class and finds that Carrie White is not there. She had never missed a day before, he frowns, who else was he going to ask for help now. They were partners, Steve had arrived late on the first day and no one ever wanted to sit next to Scary Carrie so the spot next to her was one of two spots left, he pretended not to see the other spots and sat next to her. Carrie White was super weird but she was really pretty and there was just something about her that Steve thought was really rad.

He never told anyone this because he was Steve Harrington and he had a reputation to uphold. But Steve has thought that Carrie was rad since she had shown up out of the blue in Freshman Year. She never seemed to care about the rude things people said about her and she even stood up to Carol Perkins once, it wasn't a big show and mostly everyone had forgotten it besides Carol and Steve. Carrie White was a strange girl and so not popular but that only made her seem more awesome.

Steve sighs, slipping into his chair and he glance's at Carrie's empty one. He's way too worried about a girl he's never had more than whispered conversations about math with. It was either him asking for help on something, usually met with a shrug of shoulders or an incorrect answer, then sometimes he would whisper answers to questions that Carrie seemed to struggle with. Carrie wasn't very good at math, even Steve was better, still, Steve liked to ask for her help because he liked hearing her voice.

This class was going to be more lame than usual.

It seems to drag on forever, Steve drifts off several times only for Mr. Mundy to wake him by standing in front of his desk and loudly clearing his throat. Which was both annoying and embarrassing but eventually the bell rings, Steve finds himself standing in front of the teacher's desk, he thanks God that Tommy and Carol don't have the class with him, or else they'd never let him live down what he's about to do.

Steve clears his throat mockingly and Mr. Mundy gives him a dirty look, Steve couldn't care less about that as he had never liked the math teacher all that much.

"What, Harrington?"

"Carrie wasn't here today, I was wondering if you could remind me about the homework so I can bring it to her?"

Mr. Mundy raises an eyebrow, clearly in disbelief that Steve Harrington of all people would want to do something nice for Carrie White.

"I don't want to be late for my next class, can I have the assignment or not?"

Begrudgingly, Mr. Mundy gives it to Steve who mutters a half-hearted thank you and is walking out of the class. Frankly, Steve didn't care about being late to his next class, he just didn't want to be caught by one of his peers helping Carrie. At least this way, he'd be able to talk to her without anyone knowing, he didn't know why he had never thought about it before. He knew where she lived because in freshmen year they were paired up for an English Assignment and Carrie said it would be best for him to go to her house but he never showed up.

 _I can't believe I'm doing this_ , Steve thinks to himself, of all the girls in school, he just had to go and crush on the freakiest one.

* * *

* * *

" **YOUR APPOINTMENT'S CANCELLED** this week," Margaret says the second Carrie enters their house, "You're late, what did you do?"

Carrie blinks, glancing at the clock and indeed she's late, normally it takes her twenty minutes to get home from school, she's thirty minutes late. The blonde swallows thickly "I . . . Why is my appointment cancelled?"

Margaret looks affronted by her questioning, the older woman narrows her icy eyes "If you really must know, Carrietta —"

"You don't have to call me that," Carrie says in a small voice, "My name isn't actually Carrie or Carrietta."

Margaret ignores her "You haven't improved in well over a year, Brenner wants to slow the appointments from weekly to monthly now, he believes it will be better to spot any improvement you make."

Carrie frowns, they chose today of all days to change the schedule, something isn't right. They must know about Will's disappearance — was it intentional? Was it an accident? Carrie doesn't dare ask.

"Are you going to tell me why you're late?"

There isn't any point in lying, Carrie really hadn't done anything wrong and quite frankly Margaret doesn't care if she misses school, Carrie is only there to work on her telepathic abilities.

"I . . . I didn't go . . . I was at the Byers all day, Will, he — he might have ran away or he might be skipping? We're not sure, so I decided to stay with Jonathan and look for Will at Castle Byers and wait for him to show up and Joyce went to look around town . . . I should have called but, I figured you . . . you wouldn't mind."

Carrie looks at the ground, her shoes needed to be cleaned, it was muddy out there.

"Carrie —"

"I didn't go anywhere I wasn't supposed to," Carrie exclaims, hands growing clammy and it wasn't a total lie, she didn't go into the police station with Joyce even though she sort of felt bad for letting her go in there alone but she went closer than Margaret would have wanted her to go. She could've been caught and she could be sent back to the lab, she doesn't want to go back.

"I just wanted to help, I listened for his thoughts so it's not like my powers went to waste," Carrie mumbles, scuffing her converse against the title of the foyer.

"And did you hear anything?"

"No," Carrie sighs.

"Were you pushing yourself hard enough?"

"Yes," Carrie exclaims and Margaret glares, Carrie immediately shrinks back and lowers her voice, answering again with a softer "Yes."

"Alright, if you hear anything from the Byers' boy, you let me know immediately —"

"Shouldn't I let Joyce or Jonathan know first," Carrie questions, raising an eyebrow, why would Margaret want to know first? She doesn't care that much about the Byers.

Margaret narrows her eyes and steps towards Carrie who's eyes widen and her shoulders become tense.

"Are you questioning me," Margaret asks moving in on Carrie.

Carrie shakes her head rapidly "No, no, I — no! I was just — no, I wasn't questioning you, I swear!"

"It sounds like you are," Margaret states in a steely tone, "In fact you're asking a lot of questions and you know how we feel about questions."

"I know! I do, honestly, I totally do! I just — I — It's been a rough day, I'm really worried about Will, he could be hurt or he could be lost — and I'm sorry, it won't happen again, I swear," Carrie stammers, clutching her short hair, Margaret'll cut it off if she angers the woman too much. And Carrie doesn't want to lose her hair, she likes her hair, it makes her feel pretty and normal and she hates when they buzz it.

"It better n —"

She's interrupted by a knock at the door, they share a look, and then Carrie moves to open it because it's more than likely Jonathan or Joyce. Or perhaps it was a scientist from the lab coming to visit Margaret. Either way, Carrie is extremely thankful for the knock.

She hastily opens the door and is shocked to find that Steve Harrington is standing there and even more shocking, he's holding a math text book. But, for once in her life ( only the past three years ) Carrie White is happy to see Steve Harrington and his stupid fluffy hair that she wants to constantly touch.

"Steve?!"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, this story is probably going to differ a lot from season one because we love AUs, I was trying to keep it as close as I can to the actual events but I have some fun ideas that would throw canon right out of the window. And as you already know Steve & Nancy aren't a thing because Steve has a huge crush on Carrie but Steve & Nancy are best friends ( Say Hello to Wing Woman Nancy! ). But I'm thinking of having Karen Wheeler more involved because honestly you cannot look me in the eye and tell me that Joyce, Hopper, and Karen wouldn't be an ICONIC trio! I'm like really in love with the idea of Karen finding out about El and being super supportive about hiding her so I'm probably going to include that at some point! Thanks for reading, please let me know what you thought of it as your thoughts/feedback means a lot to me!


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